Sunday, February 10, 2013

He's Home!

My little brother returned from his mission to Africa on Saturday. This was one of the most exciting things to happen to our family in a while because we all love him so much. His mission was the Ivory Coast which isn't the most safest place to stay especially for white people so knowing that he has made it back safely was a huge relief and more exciting! He was never allowed to go to the Ivory Coast so he spent most of his mission in Togo and Benin. We all knew that he lost over 100 lbs while on his mission which was way cool for him because he looked so great! However, the pictures he sent us did not do it justice. When he got off the plane and he walked out towards us we were shocked! He looked completely different. I included a before picture from before he left over 2 years ago and seeing him now is just insane! We all asked him how he lost so much weight and he said that he walked everywhere. He didn't eat as much there too. In Africa, desert is fruit so he wasn't filling up on sugar loaded candy and cake each week. He just looks amazing and is seriously the happiest I have ever seen him. He kept commenting how good we smelled and how clean our clothes were. They don't really use washing machines and its very dirty there. It definitely made me realize how much we have to be grateful for. It sure is a blessing to live in the U.S. and know how many luxuries we have that others do not.

He brought us back some souvenir's too. He brought the girls back some authentic African fabric which is rich in color and the patterns are one of a kind. He also showed us some cool things he bought for himself like a shark teeth necklace and some voodoo dolls.

It's such a great feeling knowing he is back and that I can talk to him whenever I want to. I love hearing his cool stories and also just seeing how much he has matured. He definitely has turned into a great young man and I'm lucky to be his sister!

Thanks for commenting on my blog! He was in a fairly rural area for most of the 2 years. He said he never really got dessert other than fruit or nuts with rice. I will try and post pictures of the fabric soon!